The monolithic integration of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photonic and electronic materials and devices with host substrates, such as silicon (Si), glass, and polymers, will enable the fabrication of the next generation of integrated circuits, particularly, integrated circuit "cubes" having a massive three dimensional communication network and optoelectronic integrated circuits. A standard technique for GaAs on Si integration is heteroepitaxial growth, which is described in H. Choi J. Mattia, G. Turner, and B. Y. Tsauer, "Monolithic Integration of GaAs/AlGaAs LED and Si Driver Circuit", IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., vol.9, pp. 512-514, 1988, incorporated herein by reference. However, the crystal quality of this heteroepitaxial material is often inadequate for many optical applications.
An integration method which seeks to preserve the high material quality of lattice-matched growth is the epitaxial lift-off process developed by Bell Communications Research, Inc., (Bellcore), as described in E. Yablonovitch, T. J. Gmitter, J. P. Harbison, and R. Bhat, "Double Heterostructure GaAs/AlGaAs Thin Film Diode Lasers on Glass Substrates", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett., 1, pp. 41-42, 1989, incorporated herein by reference. Essentially, a thin aluminum arsenide (AlAs) sacrificial layer is grown on a GaAs substrate, and then GaAs/AlGaAs device epitaxial layers are grown on top of the AlAs layer. The GaAs/AlGaAs lattice-matched epitaxial layers are separated from the growth substrate by selectively etching the AlAs sacrificial layer. These device layers are then mounted in a hybrid fashion onto a variety of host substrates. The device layers are of high quality and are currently being used for the integration of GaAs/AlGaAs materials onto host substrates, such as Si, glass, lithium niobate, and polymers.
However, although the Bellcore epitaxial lift-off technique yields high quality material, use of the process is problematic. When using the Bellcore epitaxial lift-off technique, there is an inability to align and selectively deposit the thin film layers or devices.